Why do we celebrate Chanukkah?
Chanukkah is celebrated in memory of the victory of the Jewish rebellion against the Syrian-Greek suppression. The story of Chanukkah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the lands under his control to continue observing their own religions and retain a certain degree of autonomy. More than a century later, in the 2nd century BC, during the time of the Second Temple, a successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV was in control of the region. He began to oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs on the altar. Two groups opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic group led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his five sons and a religious traditionalist group known as the Chasidim, the forerunners of the Pharisees (no direct connection to the modern movement known as Chasidism)
